Boys In Blue
by Terri B
Summary: Harvey Dent comes to school in Gotham and gets more than he bargains for


Disclaimer: This is an original fiction borrowing DC characters. I mean no disrespect  
  
***I got this idea after watching Ferris Buhler's Day Off for the hundredth time. I haven't seen too much said on the friendship between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. Enjoy!! I definitely have ideas for future installments.***  
  
Boys In Blue  
By Terri  
  
Harvey tugged nervously at the navy blue tie he had to wear as part of the school uniform for Gotham Academy. He had just moved to Gotham a few days earlier to live with his aunt. Harvey was nervous because he didn't have the name or the money that the other students at the elite school had. He had earned a scholarship and was encouraged by his aunt and grandmother to move to Gotham and attend the best school in the state.  
  
As his aunt pulled her small car to the curb to let 13-year-old Harvey Dent off to his first day, Harvey was overwhelmed at the site of boys his age and younger being dropped off by limousines driven by polished drivers. He gulped and fussed with his tie again.  
  
"I don't belong here."  
  
"You have every right to be here as anyone else. You earned your spot Harvey." His Aunt Kathy argued. "Now you better scoot before you're late for your first day."  
  
Harvey apprehensively got out of the car amidst the stares from the passing boys. They were smirking at the rust spots on the car or perhaps the fact that the car let off a big bang as it sped off. He swallowed his pride and walked into the school.   
  
Harvey got his class list from the office and was escorted to his first class by the principal. It was an English class full of some of the same smirk boys he saw outside. They began to whisper and giggle as he entered.  
  
"Class, this is Harvey Dent. He won the State Achievement Scholarship and will be joining us for the rest of the year. Please make him feel welcome." The principal boomed. He patted Harvey on the back and left the room. Harvey wanted to climb under a rock. Now everyone knew he was only there on a scholarship and couldn't really afford the suit he was dressed in. He took a seat near the back of the class. Unfortunately it was close to the jerks he had hoped to avoid. As the teacher taught the lesson he felt a tap on his shoulder. A redhead leaned close.  
  
"Hey" He whispered. "I think I saw a tire pop off your mom's car when she left. How old is that thing anyway."  
  
"I don't know...and she's not my mom." He snapped.  
  
"Ooh I think I hit a nerve." He laughed to the others. "But seriously, you'll like it here...I think we're having PO-Boys for lunch." The jerks doubled over in laughter and all Harvey could do was sink down in his chair. He hated this school he hated his clothes and he hated being seen as poor white trash simply because he didn't have servants to wait on him hand and foot.   
  
The rest of his morning went pretty much the same. After his third class he was trying to hurry to his locker and could feel someone push his books out from under his arm. His stuff landed all over the hallway and everyone just seemed to laugh and pass him. His face turned red in anger and he was about ready to scream. Instead of throwing a fit he bent down and began the tedious activity of picking up his books from the hallway floor. Soon he realized someone had bent down close by to help. The other boy piled up the rest of Harvey's things and handed them to him.  
  
"Thanks." Harvey answered less than enthusiastically.  
  
"They do this to all new students." The boy explained flatly. "Consider it a hazing ritual."  
  
"Great." Harvey answered and then headed off to his locker so he could get his lunch. Unfortunately the redhead, whom he found out was Ronnie Waterston, must have already been by because when he went to open his locker a humongous water balloon crashed to the ground and splattered all over Harvey. He also realized that there was another leaking over his lunch bag, ruining everything inside. He banged his head steadily against the locker until he could gather his wits to go to lunch.   
  
The lunchroom filled with the harsh sound of laughter as Harvey, with a huge wet spot on the front of his Gotham Academy jacket and pants, walked into the cafeteria. Strangely enough the teachers didn't seem to notice what was so funny and he had to find a place to sit in the crowded lunchroom quickly.   
  
He tried not to make eye contact with Waterston and his jerky friends but was becoming ever nervous as it was the only table with extra seats. He sat on the opposite end where low and behold the boy from his earlier gravity check incident was seated. The boy was clearly isolated from the rest of the group, sitting three chairs from the cool people and reading a book.  
  
"Hey Dent...need some money for lunch?" Ronnie jeered. "I like your suit. Is that the wet look?"  
  
Harvey sighed and was about to get up and leave. The other boy stopped him and stared at Ronnie until the redhead gulped uncomfortably and returned to his seat.  
  
"You must have a lot of pull here." Harvey said in amazement. The boy looked up from his book and shrugged.  
  
"He's failing math. He needs me to tutor him."  
  
"I'm Harvey Dent." The new kid said, offering his hand.  
  
"Bruce Wayne." The boy smiled slightly. "I'm sorry I forgot to warn you about the locker trick, they usually pull that one after lunch. Here you can have half my sandwich and brownie." He said pushing a good portion of a ham and cheese sandwich and brownie his way.  
"I couldn't."  
  
"Eat it. Alfred always gives me too much."  
  
"Who's Alfred? You're dad?" He could see the boy cringe slightly but recover just as quickly.  
  
"No he's my guardian. He uh...makes the best brownies."  
  
"Thanks." Harvey was starving so Bruce really didn't have to twist his arm too much to share his lunch.  
  
"So what's up with this school?" Harvey asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.  
  
"Is everyone here rich as can be? Aren't there any normal kids?"  
  
"Very few." Bruce smiled. "We happen to be sitting at money central. Ronnie's father is a giant in the banking industry. James Parker, next to him, is the heir to a tiny oil fortune. Oscar Collins, " He whispered as he pointed discretely towards the boy next to Ronnie. "Well he might have ties to the mob. He's scary anyhow."  
  
Harvey eyes opened in surprise as Bruce gave him a financial summary of everyone in the room. Most of these kids, if they banded together, could free up the national debt. It made him start tugging at his tie again. Soon the bell rang and the kids scattered to get to their afternoon classes.   
  
After Harvey dried out from the water balloon incident, his afternoon went better. Bruce was in most of his classes, including Gym and they were put together to work on a history project. After the final bell Harvey hurried to catch up with Bruce.  
  
"So what do people do around here for fun?" He asked. Bruce seemed perplexed by the question as if he had no idea what his peers did with their time.  
  
"Well..." He thought. "Most of the kids from the Academy go straight to riding lessons and stuff like that but there's a diner three or four blocks away where a lot of kids from Central hang out."  
  
"Great! Let's go!" Harvey said enthusiastically. Bruce stopped in his tracks and gave Harvey a horrified look.  
  
"What do you have riding lessons?" Harvey asked.  
  
"No." Bruce stared at the ground uncomfortably.  
  
"Don't tell me you're scared of the Central kids." Harvey grinned. He loved that the tables could be turned so easily on his new friend.   
  
"I'm not scared...I just have a lot of things to do."  
  
"Like what?" Harvey asked with an expectant grin. He was ready to shoot down whatever Bruce had planned for his afternoon.  
  
"I...I have to do my homework and I have a couple books to finish reading."  
  
"Stop right there!" Harvey held up his hand in dismay. "Now I've heard it all."  
  
"What? I like to read!" Bruce argued with his eyes opened wide in defiance.  
  
"Bruce if I'm going to teach you anything it's that sometimes you got to let loose."  
  
"I let loose." He grumbled.  
  
"Then show me where this diner is." Harvey insisted.  
  
Bruce saw Alfred waiting out front with the Bentley. He saw this as his last chance to escape. He was perfectly happy with his life...wasn't he? Far be it from anyone to reach out to him, especially someone his own age. Alfred smiled as the two boys approached.  
  
"Good afternoon sir." Alfred greeted with a warm smile. Bruce nodded and was about to get in the car when Harvey butted in.  
  
"Hello, I'm Harvey Dent." He grinned and stuck out his hand. Alfred shook it accordingly.  
  
"Hello Mr. Dent I am Alfred. I don't think I've heard mention of you."  
  
"That's because I'm new around here. Bruce has been kind enough to show me around the school. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if we went to the diner around the corner for a little while to hang out?"  
  
Alfred's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Why I think that's a wonderful idea." He said all too enthusiastically which made Bruce's eyes roll. He knew how much Alfred wanted him to make friends. Harvey nodded in approval.  
  
"Come on!" He said, already half a step ahead of the young millionaire.   
  
Bruce looked very apprehensive. Alfred took his books and smiled assuredly.  
  
"Go on Master Bruce. Call me when you're ready to go home. I'll just pop in at Dr. Leslie's."  
  
Against his better judgment Bruce hurried after Harvey. After a couple of blocks they came upon Pop's Diner. It looked full of kids their age, none of who wore the blue suits of Gotham Academy. Harvey was beginning to feel more at home every second. Of course all eyes fell upon the two seeming rich kids as they entered the neighborhood hangout. This time Harvey felt comfortable with the stares; it didn't hurt to be the mysterious kid once in a while. Bruce was feeling more than a little out of sorts. They found seats at the counter and ordered shakes.  
  
"Hey!" Came a loud voice from a booth opposite of them. "Don't you guys have more important things to do like golf outings and dance lessons?" The boy laughed and slapped hands with his buddies.  
  
"Well I don't but he," Harvey motioned to his friend. "Wanted to catch up on some reading." Harvey's smile was priceless. He was determined not to be the center of negative attention-Bruce owed him that much. The diner broke out laughing and Harvey continued.  
  
"Yeah...My first day at the ritzy Gotham Academy and not only do the guys snowball me for every move I make but I get stuck with a guy who spends his spare time reading." Harvey stressed dramatically.   
  
The kids were eating his words. Bruce on the other hand, wasn't sure how to react. He didn't like to be the center of attention. After his parents deaths he couldn't get away from his picture, life story, and sizeable fortune in the media. Still...Harvey did have a point so he couldn't be too mad. Instead he decided to get even.  
  
"Well you did fall for the oldest trick in the book." Bruce said with a wide grin.  
  
"What happened?" A girl from another table asked.  
  
"He was water-bombed." Bruce shook his head matter-of-factly. The crowd groaned and Harvey was pelted with napkins for his stupidity. Every kid in Gotham knew to be suspicious when given a gravity check right before a locker time. It was a surefire sign that a water-bombing incident was bound to occur. Water-bombing was an age-old classic in Gotham made up years before by some bully named Harvey Bullock. The whole prank worked like a science, as one would push the books out of the intended victim's arms and he would rush to pick them up, the others would break into the person's locker and set the water balloon to fall out as the victim opened it. It was really two jokes in one. Bullock went down in Gotham school history for his genius, though sometimes painful, ideas. Many kids rumor him now to be in Blackgate Prison serving ten to twenty.  
  
Bruce and Harvey found out that they had an excellent talent for banter and had the kids rolling the aisles after a while. Harvey had a quick tongue and was good at arguments but Bruce had a quick wit and a head full of useless information just begging to be let out. Bruce couldn't remember when he had so much fun and Harvey was feeling better about his Gotham Academy situation. After a while a girl who had been sitting in the back of the restaurant timidly approached.  
  
"Aren't you Bruce Wayne?" She asked with a lot of uncertainty. A "Bruce Wayne" sighting, at a diner no less, was about as improbable as spotting Paul McCartney at the mall.  
  
Bruce thought for a moment to say 'no' but he knew that it didn't pay to lie. He was after all, a Gotham celebrity like it or not. He nodded to the girl who broke into a big grin.  
  
Harvey didn't grow up in Gotham so he wasn't sure what the girl was getting at. Bruce was a rich boy, but he didn't have the snobbery of the others in class. He looked at his friend in confusion.  
  
"How do they know you?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" The girl said in amazement. "Don't you watch TV? He's only like the richest person in Gotham City." Bruce couldn't help but blush. He hated how his money shadowed him. It kept the boy from being himself because people only saw him for the millions he had and billions he was set to inherit when he was 21.  
  
Harvey couldn't believe what he was hearing but it made sense. Bruce himself did say at lunch that they were sitting at money central. Harvey just didn't figure on Bruce being the richest person at the school. No wonder the guys left him alone in the afternoon. He looked over to Bruce and could see the boy was physically uncomfortable. He needed to do something quick before his friend was resorted to signing autographs or something insane like that.  
  
"I'm friends with the richest kid in Gotham." He said brightly. Harvey then got up on his stool and cheered as if winning the lottery. All the kids laughed and Bruce couldn't help but join in. After that nothing much was said about his money or celebrity. He just became Bruce.  
  
He and Harvey joined the Central kids in the booth. They ate pizza and talked about TV and music and the upcoming Gotham Knights, the High School football team, game. Bruce had to admit, his first attempt at hanging out was a surprising success and he wouldn't mind doing it again. After a couple hours he called Alfred to pick him up. And he and Harvey said goodbye to some of their new friends, promising to be at the football game on Friday night. Years later, it can be said, that Bruce and Harvey were still friends with the Central kids, being deemed "The Boys in Blue".  
  
Bruce and Harvey walked back to the school where Alfred was waiting.  
  
"Admit it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was fun...you owe me one...we'll go again tomorrow." Harvey was counting the possible responses with his fingers.  
  
"Tomorrow? But we just spent three hours in a diner."  
  
"Yeah but you need more practice."  
  
Bruce rolled his eyes. "Do you want a ride home?"  
  
Harvey shook his head. "That's my aunt's car right there." He pointed to the rusty Gremlin up the street. "She works until six so I have three hours to kill after school every day."  
  
"Ok well I guess I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah it's been fun." Harvey said with a grin. He waved as he ran to his aunt's car and they sped off, backfiring all the way up the road.  
  
Bruce sighed lightly and practically skipped over to Alfred.   
  
"Was it fun sir?"  
  
"Yes I met some people from Central Middle School. We promised to go to their football game on Friday.  
  
"Sounds entertaining sir. Mr. Dent has had a favorable impression I hope. Perhaps this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." He said brightly.   
  
"Perhaps." Bruce answered trying to hide a boyish grin as he got into the car to head back home to the manor.  
  
  
  
  



End file.
